A photovoltaic (PV) system converts the sun's radiation into usable electricity. PV systems range from small, rooftop-mounted or building-integrated systems with capacities from a few to several tens of kilowatts, to large, utility-scale power stations of hundreds of megawatts. Some PV systems may be connected to an electrical grid to enable transmission and distribution of their generated-electricity to other participants in the utility market. On the other hand, some PV systems, such as, for example, residential or small-scale PV systems, may be off-grid or stand-alone systems. A PV system may comprise a solar/PV array to convert solar radiation into Direct Current (DC) electricity, a charge controller to receive the generated DC electrical current and transfer it for storage, a storage (battery) unit to store a portion of the generated electricity, and an inverter to convert the stored electric current from DC to AC (Alternating Current) to drive an AC load.
A PV solar system or any other renewable energy system may employ one or more monitoring equipments to monitor and report the generation and consumption of renewable energy. The monitoring equipment may communicate with a remote management equipment (for example, a database server) for remote storage and analysis of data collected by the monitoring equipment. The remote management equipment may communicate with the monitoring equipment via a network—like a cellular network, the internet, a combination of wireline and wireless networks, and the like. Such data storage and analysis may be used to generate billing, assess system operations, generate system performance analytics, perform remote troubleshooting and alert a qualified technician to visit the site for additional troubleshooting and maintenance, and so on.